VicLondon-Kensington
Kensington, the West End
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The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has been a royal holding since the Tudor period. The palace the district s named for was once home to the queen, prior to her ascension to the throne.
Originally, this district encompassed Hammersmith, Brompton, and Chelsea. Now Kensington is predominantly parkland and housing for the wealthy. Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens take up much of the district and run together, with Hyde Park being to the east of the Serpentine River, a pool of water that meanders from Uxbridge Road to Knightsbridge. The Serpentine is used for rowing and sailing small craft. This arti cial lake separates the park from Kensington Palace’s Gardens. The park is the largest open area in the city at 630 acres! The park and gardens are open to the public during the day, the gardens for a fee, and at night Hyde Park is open for scheduled affairs.
At the northeast side of the park on the Ring Road is the Marble Arch. At the arch is an area set aside for the exercise of free speech known as Speaker’s Corner. Anyone may speak freely here, and all manner of topics are shouted to the public.
South of the park, Kensington is home to the Natural History Museum, the Imperial Institute, the Albert Hall, and the Kensington Museum. These grand edi ces run along Princes Gate and draw heavy traf c from tourists – both from England and foreign nations. Smaller museums and artists shops are scattered throughout the borough, but the majority of the area is taken up with the houses of the wealthy. Unlike Belgravia, most of the residents here are gentry and aristocracy.
As a result, police presence is high in Kensington, and a military barracks is positioned in Hyde Park, between Knightsbridge and Rotten Row. Crime is low, save for petty theft and pick pocketing in the park area. Traf c is extremely high in the area of the museums and parks, but once one gets west of Kensington Gardens, this thins out, and the blocks around Holland House are quite peaceful.
